Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, left, talks with President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman during a spring training workout in 2016 in Glendale, Ariz. The team made a number of organizational changes on Friday, including naming a new farm director. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

In fact, the long, cold winter for free agents has left more than usual unemployed at the mid-point of spring training. There are closers (Greg Holland), former closers (Huston Street, Koji Uehara) and an assortment of relievers of varying stripes (Tyler Clippard, Josh Collmenter, Robbie Ross, Chad Qualls and more of their ilk).

None have become more attractive to the Dodgers with right-hander Tom Koehler currently walking around their clubhouse with his right arm in a sling. Losing Koehler indefinitely to a mild anterior capsule strain in his pitching shoulder has not made the Dodgers any more motivated to go outside the organization for additional pitching help, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Saturday morning.

“No,” he said flatly.

“I don’t think it necessarily changes the thought process in terms of deals that made sense three days ago will still make sense. And I don’t think the opposite is true — I don’t think something is going to make more sense right now than it did three days ago. … It’s just no different than it was three days ago, so we’re viewing it similarly.”

The unknown length of Koehler’s absence does make it “more challenging” to assess the Dodgers’ needs, Friedman said. But he downplayed the role Koehler was expected to play in the 2018 bullpen. Characterizing Koehler as a replacement for Brandon Morrow is an oversimplification.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Koehler was expected to pitch “in high-leverage situations” out of the bullpen this season but Friedman described Koehler as filling “an interesting niche role in our ‘pen” because of the variety he offered. Koehler relied heavily on his curveball and also gained some velocity on his fastball when he moved from starting to pitching in relief last season.

“Tom fit our ‘pen in a very specific way, just from a pitch-mix perspective that allowed different looks for Doc, Honey and Mark,” Friedman said, referring to Roberts, pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and first-year bullpen coach Mark Prior.

“He was one of six, seven guys who all were going to get important outs for us and kind of match up differently. That’s our big thing, having different looks and therefore giving Doc and Honey more of an opportunity to match up against different hitters.”

If Koehler won’t be getting any of those important outs for the Dodgers any time soon and Friedman doesn’t feel any urgency to add to the current group of relievers, a spot opened for someone to open the season in the Dodgers’ bullpen.

Beyond closer Kenley Jansen, right-handers Pedro Baez, Yimi Garcia and Ross Stripling and left-handers Tony Cingrani and Scott Alexander appear set. Josh Fields, Adam Liberatore, Brock Stewart, Wilmer Font (a starter who is out of options), J.T. Chargois (recently acquired on waivers) and a host of others now have a little more daylight to make the roster.

“Things happen with injury and performance and right now there’s a lot of guys competing,” Roberts said. “It just gives guys opportunity to step up. We’ve talked about it from the beginning … we feel very good about our bullpen depth. Now it’s going to be an opportunity for different guys.”

SLOW RECOVERY

Several players are still recovering from the illness that depleted the Dodgers’ roster this week. Rob Segedin was anticipating being cleared to play in games this week after undergoing surgery to fuse two bones in his right hand last November. It was one of two surgeries Segedin had last season. He also had a related procedure during the summer to remove a bone spur from his right wrist.

But Segedin was hit hard by the virus that swept the clubhouse. He ran a fever of 104 degrees and wound up in the hospital receiving IV fluids.

Segedin is back in camp this weekend but is not back to full strength.

NOTES

Right-hander Kenta Maeda has recovered enough from his bout with illness to start against the San Francisco Giants in Scottsdale Sunday. … Roberts left camp Saturday and traveled back to San Diego to attend his daughter’s school play. Roberts is expected back in camp Sunday.

Bill Plunkett has covered everything from rodeo to Super Bowls to boxing (yeah, I was there the night Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear off) during a career that started far too long ago to mention and eventually brought him to the OC some time last century (1999 actually). He has been covering Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register since 2003, spending time on both the Angels and Dodgers beats.

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